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So as I've been running my latest SWSE game for my group (the Dawn of the Jedi game I've posted about here), I've been thinking about the number of different factions within the Je'daii lurking behind the scenes and how difficult it can be for a GM to control all of these factions at the same time while preserving realistic features of the game such as how much information each group has on the other. In past intrigue-based games I've run, my games haves generally suffered from the problem that only one of the factions is ever doing anything interesting at any time, and that ends up feeling pretty railroad-y.

So one idea I've been considering is to have a few people outside of the gaming group "run" each of these different factions between sessions. This can develop into a little mini-game of its own, and by giving people other than the GM the opportunity to play around with the world, more interesting situations between the factions can arise fairly organically without the GM having to push things around much. I think the idea is that each outside person would be given a short run-down on the faction in the beginning and then, in the role of the leader for that faction, provide her troops with their marching orders for the immediate future. Then, after each section of the actual game, they would get an update on how well their faction was faring, both in terms of what happened in the gaming session (that they know about, anyway) and what was going on behind the scenes. They would then have the chance to issue new orders, and the cycle would continue.

Have any of you ever tried to use this tactic in your own games? If so, any advice on how to make it work well or potential problems to look out for?

I think giving players this kind of input and responsibility in your game is a GREAT idea. It takes the burden off of you a bit, gets them more involved, and really lends to a greater story potential than if only one person were running things.
So if your players are down, then that's an excellent idea IMO.

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You mean like this http://www.treasuretables.org/files/Evi ... 06free.pdf

Um, yes, exactly like that...wow, I guess my friend who suggested this option to me is much better-read on the interwebs than I am. Either that, or great minds think alike?

Has anyone had any experience using the Evil Overlords system? I think the way the way it was run in that Treasure Tables article is basically how I'd want to run it, though I'd want to tweak the biweekly email and make it more free-form.

And on that note, I don't know if it this is appropriate in these particular forums (and if it's not, could someone direct me to the section of these forums where it would be appropriate?), but is there anyone interested in taking on the role of an evil overlord in a Dawn of the Jedi campaign? I've got plenty of factions to choose from, and I don't imagine it would be much work.

Okey dokey, this could be fun especially if nothing but a few emails is entailed.

If you need some non intensive help I am down good sir.

Thanks, Prof! I do intend this to be extremely low work; at its worst it would probably involve sending a one- or two-line email once a week. If you want to get more involved and flesh out your faction in a lot more detail, I certainly won't stop you and would be appreciative of the input, but that would be totally supererogatory.

Any other takers? Assuming this is a kosher use of these forums, I'll just wait until, say, Thursday morning (6/14, and I'm in the Eastern US timezone) and send out a PM to anyone who has PM'd me or posted their interest on this thread to explain the factions in my game and divvy them up (Side note: I'm also willing to reciprocate if any interested faction-runners want to try out the Evil Overlord system in their games and are looking for their own faction-runners).

Sexless thanks in advance!

Zanebane, as far as Moi is concerned, this an okay forum for recruiting Evil Overlords.
You don't happen to need a Good Overlord, do you? That's more my style.

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Thanks, ZRissa! And yes, I'm hoping to recruit some overlords for both one light-side aligned and one "neutral-ish" faction for my game, so I'd be happy to have you on board!

I wouldn't mind playing an Overlord. What era and whats factions do you have?

Might be worth doing up a faction for each overlord using the rules in the faction rules in the force unleashed guide.

The era for my game is a kind of Alt-U Dawn of the Jedi era. The game essentially takes place in the Tython system during the Rakatan Infinite Empire (though it'll probably expand outward as the game continues, as games always seem to do). The Rakata made contact with Tython about 20 years ago when Xesh, a force hound (force-sensitive human slave working for the Rakata) landed on Tython. This part of the setting follows from what's been established in the DotJ comics to date.

But not having the DotJ comics finished, I've stipulated that the following happens to Xesh (and this is where it gets Alt-U-y): though he's been sent to bring the Rakata to the Tython system and enslave its inhabitants, Xesh instead meets a Je'daii master (the Je'daii, by the way, are basically neutral proto-Jedi/Sith: they emphasize balance in the force, not wanting to give in too much to either the dark side or the light side) who severs his connection to the Rakata and basically rehabilitates him. Xesh tells the Je'daii about the Rakata, and the Je'daii spend the next years preparing for the tidal wave that is the Infinite Empire to crash on their doorstep.

The thing I'm most interested in exploring during this era is the fracturing of the Je'daii. Different Je'daii responded in different ways to Xesh's information, many of them feeling that only one side of the force could guide them to victory against the Rakata. So three of the factions in my game are the Je'daii establishment, a light-side cult within the Je'daii, and a dark-side cult within the Je'daii. There are also two crime syndicates on the nearby planet of Shikaakwa (think Nar Shadaa) that I'd like to open up to evil overlords, but I don't want to say too much about those just in case my players stumble onto these boards. Let's just say that at least one of them is pretty awesome and has some nasty surprises in store for my players.

I was thinking about statting out each faction but decided against it in favor of GM fiat. I'm currently just planning on giving each overlord basic information like the group's goals and immediate resources before each of my gaming sessions and asking them to tell me what concrete goals they'd like to pursue and how they'd like to pursue them. Then, my group will play things out in the session, I'll decide a few things behind the screen, and I'll let you all know how your projects are going and give you the chance to adjust or redeploy your resources before the next session. If you would like official faction stats to help you make these decisions, I can whip some up (or give you the freedom to make them if you're a really motivated overlord), but I don't think you'll really need that information to play your faction.

Eagerly awaiting an email or pm with a fat sack of fluff and background as well as our options and my marching orders.

This could be an awesome opportunity.

As we do this you'll have to keep us posted via the thread how it's working out in your game.

Because if it works I would be more than willing to turn a lot of my background and faction stuff in my upcoming campaign into a forum mini game as well.

Yay

I'll definitely keep the thread updated as it goes. And I'll probably send out PMs with a little bit more detail to everyone who's expressed interest so far at some point today. I don't think I'll give too much more information than what I've given above because some of the factions have some pretty big secrets they're keeping from other factions, but I'll try to give enough information that you all feel like you can make an informed decision.

There are at least 5 factions in the game, so if there are at least 2 more of you out there interested in being evil (or good, or neutral) overlords, please let me know soon!

So I've been thinking about the mechanics behind resolving conflicts between factions in this system, and below is the (relatively) simple system I've come up with. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Each faction gets a certain number of points depending on their size and influence. For my game, I'm thinking the Je'daii get 10 points, the dark side faction gets 8, one crime syndicate gets 7, the light side faction gets 6, and the final syndicate (which Prof. Cephalapod has claimed) gets 5 points. These numbers may fluctuate during the game as certain factions rise or fall in power. Before each session, you tell me which actions you want your faction to pursue for the immediate future. These can be things like "send a task force to infiltrate the enemy base" or "beef up security in general". Then, you assign points to each of those tasks from your general pool. You also assign a scale to the task: small, medium, or large. A large task is one that requires the help of over 100 people, a medium task is one that requires the help of 11-100 people, and a small task is one that a team of 10 or fewer can carry out.

To resolve conflicts (for instance, if one faction says "I want to invade the enemy base" and the other says "I want to beef up my defenses on this base"), I will roll a d6 and add the number of points each faction put into that particular action to the roll. The highest result succeeds in their action, either successfully invading the enemy base or successfully repelling the invaders. On a roll of a 1, something extraordinarily bad happens. If the invaders roll a 1, for instance, their team may be captured by the enemies, and if the defenders roll a 1, the invading team may find important documents or something unexpectedly useful in the fight against these opponents. If the scales differ in a way that privileges one side or the other (for instance, if the infiltrating team is small, and the base is very large such that defense of it counts as medium or large), the privileged side will receive a circumstance bonus (usually a +2, but it could be as high as +3 if one side is really favored or as low as +1 if the circumstances only grant a slight advantage).

Does this seem like a reasonable system? Is it one that my evil/non-evil overlords find acceptable?

Sounds good.

Are you going to make up factions using the faction rules in Force unleashed?

Might be good to set up google shared docs for this

Just wanted to mention that, due to some scheduling conflicts, my group isn't meeting as soon as I'd thought, so if there are any other people interested in being evil (or neutral, or good) overlords for my campaign, there are still three factions (the crime syndicate, the Je'daii, and the light side cult) available. I do not expect it to be much work. Let me know if you're interested!